


escape

by interstellarbeams



Category: Aladdin (2019)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Fluff without Plot, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-27
Updated: 2019-06-27
Packaged: 2020-05-20 11:36:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19375918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/interstellarbeams/pseuds/interstellarbeams
Summary: Jasmine has a nightmare.





	escape

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Katie for looking this over for me! You’re the best! I appreciate you so much! 
> 
> Just a short bit of fluff. I hope y’all enjoy anyways! I already have another oneshot almost  
> completed (with a plot) and a new prompt almost filled. :)
> 
> Comments and kudos are appreciated! <3

**shh, it’s okay. it was just a bad dream.**

She coughed, eyes wide and searching as she tried to figure out where she was. The darkness was all-encompassing and she felt her heart pounding, fear taking over as she struggled against a steady stream of something that poured down over her. She tried to cry out, tried to escape, but she stepped forward and met resistance. The darkness around her lightened to a deep violet, but the fear stayed as she thrashed, pounding her fists against the invisible thing that kept her from freedom.

 _Where am I?_ She continued to press against the barrier that she couldn’t move past. She felt the reverberations of her fists pounding in her arms, but strangely she felt no pain in her fingers. 

She gasped as the heaviness that descended also slowly crept up her legs and then she was trapped once more, unable to move and she screamed out in frustration. She tried to move her arms, tried to call for help, but she choked and what felt like tiny shards of glass filled up her throat and lungs.

 _What’s happening to me?_ she thought frantically. 

Panic shot through her, almost as paralyzing as the situation she found herself in. 

Suddenly the deadly quiet was broken by a faint voice calling her name, but she still couldn’t move, couldn’t cry out for that someone to come to her rescue. 

“Jasmine.” She felt a touch to her forehead and she turned her head, opening her eyes with a gasp to see a haze of golden lamplight surrounding her and a pair of concerned brown eyes focused on hers.

“What — ” she pressed herself upwards with both hands, struggling against the sheets that held her like retaining ropes, her heart still pounding as she tried to reconcile herself to her new situation. She breathed erratically, unable to control the tears that she hadn’t realized she was shedding as they rolled down her cheeks, “I — what, what happened?”

“Shh, it’s OK.” Aladdin grasped her by both shoulders and eased her back against the plump pillows, straightening the sheets around her. “It was just a bad dream.” 

Relief flooded through her, her husband’s familiar face drawing her back to reality and whisking her away from the clutches of her nightmares. 

“A bad dream?” she repeated, allowing herself to relax as she took in her familiar surroundings. The glowing oil lamps that sat on tall stands in the corners of the room, the red silk curtains that hung around the bed, tied together by woven gold cord and the harsh feline breathing of Rajah where he laid by the door. 

“Yes, a bad dream.” Aladdin smoothed her hair back from her forehead and she reached up to grasp his hand, pulling him down to rest beside her.

He lifted himself on his elbow and she turned her head, her hair sticking to the back of her neck and she struggled to pull it away from her skin.

“Here, let me.” Aladdin wrapped a hand around the gold clasp that held her ponytail together and pulled gently until he was able to free it from underneath her. 

“Thank you,” she sighed, rolling over to rest her cheek against the cool pillow. Her heartbeat slowly normalized as the adrenaline rush wore off and the fear and panic ebbed away like a paper boat on the tide. 

The sheets rustled as he settled back down, a sheen of sweat glistening in the hollow of his throat as he laid his head on the silk pillow next to hers. 

After a beat, he spoke. “Do you want to talk about it?” 

He had a crease on his cheek from a fold of the pillow and she reached across the space between them to smooth a finger across it. His eyes stayed steady on hers, but she couldn’t bear to look in them, knowing she would break down and cry if she caught a glimpse of the love and concern she knew rested there. 

“It’s OK. It’s not real. Whatever it was can’t hurt you anymore.” He reached to rest a hand on her waist, smoothing his thumb across the soft fabric of her night robe. 

“I know. It just — it felt so real.” She pushed a strand of hair back from her face, then rested her hand against his neck, the steady heartbeat under her palm reassuring her more than his words. 

The sounds of the changing of the guard, though usually so quiet neither of them woke, interrupted the stillness of the night and Rajah snored once before waking himself up. He growled quietly, sniffing at the door then pacing in a circle before he laid back down.

“I was trapped. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. I tried calling out but — ” she swallowed hard, releasing a shaky breath, “I felt like I was drowning, but there wasn’t any water.” 

Aladdin hummed in understanding and she knew he had experienced what she felt. Jafar had tried to have him killed, dumping him into the ocean when he wouldn’t give up the location of the lamp and leaving him to drown. He had told her the story later on, after their marriage, when she had asked him to tell her everything about that time when he had been courting her as Prince Ali and she had been in love with the real him all along. 

He touched the back of her hand, palm soft and gentle as a whisper, before wrapping his fingers around her own. 

“I know it’s scary. To have no control over what’s happening to you. I can’t help you with that, but I can promise you that I will always be here when you need me, OK?”

“I know,” she nodded her head, “of course, I know that.”

Jasmine released his hand, working her hand underneath his neck, and he wrapped an arm around her waist as she snuggled into his chest. She breathed him in, his masculine scent comforting in a way. The brush of his hair against her forehead almost tickled but she felt anchored to the here and now with the warmth of his body pressed against hers, allowing her to forget the horrible bondage of the nightmare. 

She pulled back after a minute, feeling tiredness dragging at her eyelids again, but she wouldn’t let it overtake her just yet. 

“You know how much I love you, right?” 

“ _Errm_ ,” Aladdin pretended to be considering it and she laughed, smacking his arm.

“Be serious.” 

“What? I didn’t say anything.” He chuckled, trying to dodge her hand for a second time.

His bright smile slowly faded as he searched her face and she missed the vitality that instantly lifted her mood whenever he looked at her with such joy as soon as it was gone. He lifted a hand to her cheek and she leaned into it like Rajah does when she scratches under his chin in just the right way.

“I do love you. And I always will,” Aladdin admitted and her chest ached from the sincerity of it.

She leaned forward, pressing a kiss to the corner of his mouth, not the least bit surprised when he turned his head just enough so that their lips met fully. 

His hands tightened on her back. His grip was strong and sure as he pulled her closer, leaving her half sprawled across his lap as he kissed her eagerly.

The grip of his hands was much more appealing than that of her clutching nightmare. It was a possession, one that she could escape from if she wanted, but the brush of his lips and the touch of his tongue held her in a different kind of prison — one that she didn’t want to escape.


End file.
